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The New Blood Speech
"You act like there's some division between him and you. Like you're the more "pure" member of Weeb Nation. You've been here longer, sure. But you don't get to define what being a member of this chat means. That's like saying that White Supremacists are correct when they say that immigrants aren't true Americans. Ian brought something to the table, just like we all do, and you guys drove him away with inconsiderate spam. @everyone has utility. I'm not denying that. But I think people should be prevented from using it just because they aren't responsible with it. Allow me to draw a comparison to Czarist Russia. Back in the late-1800s, a lot of lower-class people in Russia had a problem with the way the country was run. The Czar, Alexander II, started implementing some reforms to appease them, and in doing so modernized the country somewhat. But the nobility, who were firmly entrenched in the upper class, resented this, since it redistributed some of their wealth. Eventually, they pressured the Czar into a more conservative stance, allowing them to keep their ancestral privileges. But this would have long-term consequences in that it kept Russia as a backward, unstable empire, and because of this the lower classes eventually rose up in the Revolutions of 1905 and 1917, ultimately resulting in the end of the Russian Empire. Obviously, this is a little overdramatic, but bear with me because there's some definite parallels. You, the Czar, have recently made some definite changes for the better. We have a role system, which allows for more selective tagging and accurate categorization. We have more admins, and Cypress effectively polices the general chat to prevent pictures from being posted. But the nobles (the original members) are pushing back because they don't like the direction this chat is going in. Fishy demands his corner. Cypress demands a purge. People rampantly use @everyone. And what this is doing is disenfranchising everyone else. This was acceptable before, when it was just them, but now Weeb Nation consists of a bunch of different people and we have a responsibility to them. By allowing these "nobles" continued access to these privileges, we perpetuate inequality and disincentivize participation by new members. In other words, we keep this chat stuck in the past and unable to move forward. But if we do that, it will die off, as each of us go off to college and participate less, and nobody else is left to pick up the slack. We're getting off topic here. The notion of this being a chat where people fit in or they should leave isn't an accurate one. We add people all the time, and whether or not they fit in or not is directly related to how much people reach out to them. I reached out to Ian constantly and as a result he participated more than the average new joiner. An unnecessary @everyone is the opposite of reaching out. They respond to it, thinking someone wants to talk to them, but find out that it's not actually relevant. And that jades them. They become that much less willing to respond to future tags. Eventually, they just dismiss all of their tags as not pertaining to them and instead mute the chat and become Hidden Ones. They aren't insulted or infuriated so there's no reason to leave. But there's also no reason to participate anymore. So they stop. Ben, look at the tags most of the hidden ones have. They play the same games we do. But they don't participate in Weeb Nation, even when we're playing those games. Why? Because we never invited them to. It's the same thing over and over. If nobody reaches out to them, they won't participate. We don't usually notice this because most of the non-Hidden Ones are so familiar with the group that they participate without invitation. But we've become too used to this, to the point where we're unwilling to actually invite people in the chat to play with us. We invite them to Weeb Nation but then leave them on their own. As anyone whose ever been to a party where they don't know anyone can tell you, you're completely reliant on being reached out to. Nobody is going to insert themselves into conversation with total strangers And using @everyone is the opposite of reaching out to them. It's like someone making a toast at that party. You sit there and listen to it because they're addressing everyone, but it's made by a stranger to other strangers, and so you just feel more cognizant of your own isolation, which makes you dislike the party. You stay out of politeness, or respect to the person who brought you, but you don't reach out to anyone. You sit there in silence, minding your own business, until eventually you leave. The Hidden Ones will all eventually leave. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, and maybe they won't even leave Weeb Nation because they'll stop using Discord entirely. The only way for us to avoid this is to make them not be Hidden Ones. And the only way to do that is to reach out to them.